Touch & Go (Tessa Leoni, #2)(42)

“Get. Yourself. Fucking. Under. Control.” Z released the trigger. Mick groaned audibly. “Do you hear me?”

“Y-y-yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“Yes, sir! Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir!”

“Fucking right. Up. Get your sorry ass to the control room. I’ll take things from here.”

Mick got up, staggered for a second, then marched down the corridor.

The moment he was halfway down the hall, Ashlyn rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside me.

“Mom, are you all right? Mom? Please?”

I felt her long hair against my cheek. Her own fingers, trying to push my lighter strands back so she could better see me.

“I just…need a minute.”

Z didn’t talk. He stood. After a few minutes, I was able to sit up, Ashlyn helping support me. Somewhere along the way, Justin had managed the same, his back propped against a wall, his legs splayed in front of him.

Our first attempt at rebellion. My ribs ached, my head ached, my leg burned. Ashlyn’s forearm sported a square of blistered flesh. Justin had yet to make it to his feet. The Denbe family had tried to take on the evil commandos, and the evil commandos had won.

As if reading my mind, Z looked down at me. “If you ever try that again,” he said firmly, “your daughter will pay the consequences. Whatever pain and damage you inflict, she will bear the cost twice over. Do you understand me?”

Slowly, aware of my pounding skull, I nodded.

“It’s okay, Mom,” Ashlyn said, and once again I was startled by the vehemence in her tone. “I don’t care. I hate you,” she spit out at Z, as if that should bother him. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

“Forget the money,” Justin spoke up behind us. “I will see you f*cking killed for this. One day, sooner or later, you’re gonna take a bullet to the brain, and I’ll be the son of a bitch who put it there.”

Z merely snorted.

“Please,” he said, indicating for us to rise. “Mick has already picked out your graves, and Radar would kill his own mother if the price was right. Around here, I’m the best friend you got. On your feet. You still got chores to do.”





Chapter 17


TESSA CALLED ANITA BENNETT to arrange a meeting with the chief of operations at Denbe Construction. At this stage of the game, Tessa figured it was time to get a better sense of the core group of company officers who’d be called upon to handle the ransom demand, if/when it should occur.

As long as she was visiting Denbe’s worldwide headquarters, Tessa also decided to make a quick detour to the travel agency, located in the main lobby of the steel-and-chrome high-rise office building. Kate, Christy, Katie, the hairdresser had thought.

Sure enough, front desk, facing the double-wide glass doors, sat a fresh-faced brunette whose brass desk plate identified her as Kathryn Chapman. A younger Katie Holmes, Tessa thought, which was scary, as Katie Holmes was young enough.

Tessa would estimate the girl’s age at twenty, twenty-one. With perfect skin, warm brown eyes, and a positively beaming smile.

Tessa glanced at her watch. Fifteen minutes before she was due at Anita Bennett’s twelfth-floor office. She approached.

“Can I help you?” Kathryn Chapman greeted her.

“I hope so. I’m here on behalf of Denbe Construction. I understand your firm handles their travel plans.”

“Absolutely. Are you a new employee?”

“You could say that. My first assignment is to track down the big boss, Justin Denbe. Do you happen to know where he’s traveling? Because he doesn’t seem to be at home this weekend.”

At the mention of Justin’s name, the girl’s smile didn’t falter. Some of the luster left her, though. She turned to the monitor on her desk, tapped her keyboard. “Let me see. And your name?”

“Tessa Leoni.”

“My name is Kate. Pleased to meet you, Tessa. When you have a moment, we have a basic travel worksheet for you to fill out. Covers your legal name, date of birth, frequent flier numbers, seating preferences, that sort of thing. Once we have all that info on file, we can better assist you with your travel arrangements.”

“Good to know.”

Kate turned back, frowning slightly. “I don’t show Mr. Denbe traveling this weekend. Perhaps he’s on a personal trip.”

“You only assist with his business travel?”

“We’re a corporate agency.”

“Huh. And you assist everyone at Denbe? I mean, I should just call you, instead of, say, Expedia.com?”

“I don’t know if Denbe has a specific policy, but, yes, we handle the majority of the travel arrangements. With no disrespect to Expedia, it’s nice to have a number to call should something go wrong, and we’re happy to be that number.”

“Can I use you for personal travel, too, or only business?”

“Many of Denbe’s employees use us for both.”

“But not Justin? You think maybe he made his own plans this weekend?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“You always the one who helps him? Or maybe someone else?”

“There aren’t assigned agents, if that’s what you mean. We all take turns helping everyone.”